Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Stephen Harper - Enemy of the State?

I don't know if this is true but Avaaz.org is claiming that Stephen Harper intends to try to derail the global warming initiative at this week's G8 summit. The organization maintains that Harper, allied with the Russians, will seek to block the adoption of a warming target of 2 degrees Celsius, a move that could fatally undermine the Copenhagen summit in December.

If this warning is true and if Michael Ignatieff wants something powerful on which to attack Harper, this is it. All he'd have to do is unglue his ass from that fence he's been straddling since he assumed the Liberal leadership.

If true then Iggy better get his ass in gear. If he doesn't then we will have no voice on this. There's been far too much talk & no action. Sneaky Steve making his plans to derail things on the global scale now, not just in Canada. Jeez I want to see him & his thugs gone. The damage he/they are doing is frightening as more time passes & he's still in power.

I do believe that Brown 'outed' Harper but to place any credence in a Harper committment to 2 degrees is naive.

The giveaway was in Harper's spokesman's comment afterward that Canada is in favour of tougher regulations "for everybody." There's his out. He's still not buying the principle that the West must lead to induce the emerging economies to come along. Harper is counting on their continued dependence on coal to forestall any meaningful crackdown on the Tar Sands. I'm sure he knows MI won't create any problems.

I also find this two-channel dialogue on climate change telling. Britain is going to be one of the least affected nations (thanks to the moderating influences of the seas that surround it). Yet just last month the government's environmental secretary warned Britons to begin planning for conditions that are expected to see an overall 2 degree increase by 2080 with upwards of 6 degrees in the south, including London.

If the Brits' latest forecast sees 6 degree change in southern England by 2080, you don't even want to know what they expect for Spain, southern France, Italy or Greece. Months ago the Greek tourism minister said global warming is already destroying his country's tourism potential.

That's why the 6 degree warning is so troubling. If the Brits can foresee that now and conclude that is on the basis of the carbon emissions that already exist, the only conceivable way of stopping that is geo-engineering. Oh Christ!

I don't give any credence to Harpers supporting it. He doesn't. He's just doing the "right" thing in the eyes of the world & forCanadians. Doesn't mean he'll actually do anything.Once he's home he'll be doing everything in his power to implement any kind of environmental standards.

That 6 degree projected warming for Britain is awful. Is it already getting too warm in Greece & that is why tourism is affected?

You'd think the leaders of all the Party's would be concerned. After all they all have kids & some even have grandchildren. I had no idea things were progressing so badly. Never hear anything about it here in the MSM. At least I haven't.

In Greece, for example, the forest fire season has already been expanded by six weeks. The country is experiencing more heat waves and generally higher temperatures accompanied by sustain drought. Agriculture is plummeting. The Greeks are looking at alternate farming methods (delayed planting, alternate crops, etc.) but find they require 40% more water - something that's hard to find when you're beset by extended drought.

Penlan, this stuff is already happening and it's widespread yet we're acting as though everything's going to be alright with just a little green tweaking here and a bit of carbon capture there.

The worst impacts being felt today can be blamed, in part, on the fact that there was so little advance awareness of what was coming. Adaptation and remediation measures can take decades to implement. That's why the British government is now giving its people a warning of what to expect by 2080, what to plan and prepare for.

Do you have the remotest idea what people in Mitchell, Ontario need to plan for in 2080? Is anyone discussing that with you? Are your provincial and municipal leaders exploring your options and discussing them within your community?

There's more than a bit of political treachery being played out here. If people in Mitchell, Ontario or Halifax, Nova Scotia or Bella Bella, British Columbia were given accurate information, were told what they could expect and what they had to plan for, it would force the hand of every party and every party leader in Ottawa. Right now I think the only party that would welcome that is the Bloc.

That's why I have no respect for Ignatieff or Layton. They're both going along to get along.